dickinson



L t e e h s s t e e h S 2 N O S N I K NU T D H J u m d o M 0 m AERIAL TRAMWAY.

Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

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2 Sheets-Sheet J. H. DICKINSON.

AERIAL TRAMWAY.

Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY ma Mpnms vmns 00.. Pumauma, wnsn UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. DICKINSON, OF TRENTON, JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE TRENTON IRON COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AERIAL TRAMWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,399, dated April 11, 1893. Application filed November 12, 1892. Serial No. 451,734- (No'modeh) To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. DICKINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aerial Tramways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a true, full, clear, and exact description of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of aerial tramways wherein the tram-rope upon which the traverse or carriage runs is adj ustably suspended between its terminal supports. This class of tramways is used for conveying logs from the points where the trees are felled in the forest to the place of their delivery upon vehicles for transportation to the market. Heretofore, owing to inherent difficulties of construction and operation, it has been impossible to build such tramways of any considerable length, and the object of my invention is to provide means for greatly lengthening such tramways and increasing their efficiency while keeping the cost of construction within moderate bounds.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1. shows a general view of a tramway embodying my invention, the cables being broken between supports so as to show several supports upon the drawings. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one of the intermediate supports of such tramway, and Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of one of the swiveled saddles forsupporting the tram-rope.

In the drawings A, B are the terminal supports or standards of the main system of the tramway.

A, O are the terminal supports of the auxiliary loading system.

D, D, D, D, are intermediate standards sup- .porting the tram-cable.

a is the supporting cable.

I) is the tram-cable; c the hauling rope; (Z the tail rope or auxiliary hauling cable.

e, e, e, are saddles to which the tram cable is attached and by which it is supported at the intermediate standards D, D.

f is the traveling carriage to one end of which is attached the end of the cable d, and having at the lower end of its frame a sheave over which passes the hauling cable 0, said hauling rope having at its free end depending from said carriage a pair of tongs for gripping the logs to be conveyed.

g, h, z' are winding drums driven by a steam engine.

j is the supporting cable of the loading system, and Z0 is the loadingcable thereof.

In constructing the tramway, especially if built for logging purposes, it is customary to use trees as standards for supporting the tramway. One end of the tram-rope b is made fast to the terminal standard B at a proper height from the ground, and the standard B is anchored as shown in Fig. l to prevent flexure. The tram-rope is then stretched in the desired direction, and suitably attached to the swinging saddles e, e, e between the intermediate standards'D, D, and is finally passed over a sheave 0n the terminal standard A, and anchored as shown in the drawings, being made taut by a block and fall, or the like. One end of the supporting cable a is made fast to the standard B, and is carried through the double sheaves Z, Z suspended between the standards D, D on the cable m, and is passed over a sheave on the terminal standard A, and anchored as shown; being adjusted as to its length between terminals by a block and fall. Between each double sheave Z, Z, the supporting cable 0, depends in a loop, and playing within the loop is a sheave from which depends a swiveled saddle e to which is attached the tram-rope b, as above mentioned.

In operating the tramway thecarriage f is first located at a point on the tram-rope over a log to be removed, and the tongs on the free end of the hauling cable 0 are gripped upon the log near one of its ends. The winding drum h is then set in motion to wind the hauling cable a, while the tail-rope d is permitted to unwind from the drum 2', a brake being applied to that drum to keep the cable (Z sufliciently taut to raise and maintain one end of the log above the ground while it is being moved to the pointof delivery. Assuming the loaded carriage to have started toward the point of delivery from a point near the ICO terminal standard B, the weight of the loaded carriage will at first fix the point of greatest deflection of the tram-rope at a point between the standard B and the pair of intermediate standards D, D nearest thereto. This will cause the slack in the supporting cable a to be taken up at all other points on the line of the tramway, and, excepting the loop in the supporting cable at the nearest pair of intermediate standards, all the loops in the supporting cable will be shortened, and the saddles e, e between the other intermediate standards will be elevated and With them the tramrope. As the carriage approaches the first pair of intermediate standards, the point of greatest depression in the tram-rope will move with it, and the loop in the supporting cable between the first pair of intermediate standards will be lengthened until the carriage passes it. When the carriage reaches the saddle depending from that loop the saddle will have descended so far as to remove all abrupt deflection in the tram-rope at that point, and the carriage is enabled to pass that support without appreciable jar or danger of derailment. It will be readily seen that as the carriage moves on toward the next pair of intermediate standards the loop in the supporting cable just passed and the saddle depending therefrom are respectively shortened and elevated, while theloop and saddle which the carriage approaches are correspondingly lengthened and depressed; and so on throughout the entire series on the line. When the carriage reaches the terminal standard Athelog is dropped from the carriage, and is gripped by a pair of tongs on the free end of the loading cable It, and is hoisted by the drum gand deposited upon the car or other vehicle ready to receive it for transhipment. By the adoption of this form of shifting supports I enable the carriage to travel on a line approximately parallel to the surface of the ground, the'carriage and its load operating to automatically adjust the height of the tram-rope while removing all abrupt deflections therein incident to fixed altitudes of support, while by the introduction of a continuous supporting cable embodying loops the vertical movement of any given saddle and point of support of the tram-rope is automatically given greater or less scope as the case may require, thus affording the greatest practicable elasticity of the line without manual adjustments in detail.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In an aerial tramway, a tram-cable in combination with a cable supporting the same,

I said supporting cable being looped at points of support of the tram-cable intermediate the terminal supports thereof; substantially as shown and described.

2. In an aerial tramway, a tram-cable in combination with a continuous supporting cable looped at the points of support of the tram-cable intermediate the terminal supports thereof, and having alongitudinal movement between the terminal supports; substantially as shown and described.

3. In an aerial tramway, a tram-cable in combination witha continuous supporting cable looped at the intermediate points of support, and having a longitudinal movement between the terminal supports, sheaves sustaining the supporting cable at the points where it is looped, and sheaves playing within the loops of the supporting cable, and attached to saddles fixed upon the tram-cable substantially as shown and described.

4. In an aerial tramway, a tram-cable in combination with terminal and intermediate supporting standards, a continuous supporting cable sustained by the standards, and looped at the intermediate points of support, sheaves through which the loops of the supporting cable pass, sheaves playing within the loops, and saddles attached to said sheaves and fixed upon the tram-cable; substantially as shown and described.

JOSEPH I-I. DICKINSON.

Witnesses:

F. W. GNICHTEL, M. (J. KEARNEY. 

